All that stuff

A constant problem of the rich is where to put all the stuff they’ve accumulated over time. So they rent extra storage space. Or maybe not since they live in mansions with many, many rooms. All they need to do is to assign a couple of those as stock rooms.

Every year, we accumulate so much stuff – stuff we thought we needed, stuff we thought we loved but end up lying somewhere, occupying precious space.

Consumerism drives people to poverty. Materialism causes people to be unethical.

And covetousness destroys people. And all because people believed without thinking.

Don’t believe the Mad Men. The Mad Men have mastered the art of the sales pitch. Watch the TV series, it’s so fascinating.

You see a million-peso handbag and you say, “This bag is so me.” Really? Why, do you have ostrich skin?

You go to an expensive boutique. The fashion stylist tells you, “Oh, that dress is so you!” Was she rolling her eyes when she said that? Because you are so you – you’re not made up of cotton and wool.

You enter a car showroom. “This car is so me,” you think. Why do you say that? Do you look like a steering wheel?

Go to any funeral, and you’ll notice one thing: the departed parted with nothing, left everything behind.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR STUFF!

You are you, and your stuff is just… stuff!

Just because you have more doesn’t mean you’re more of a person. And just because you use expensive signature stuff doesn’t mean you’re a more important person compared to the next.

Let’s take the reverse.

Just because you’re wearing ordinary clothes doesn’t mean you’re ordinary. Clothes don’t make a man. The man makes the clothes.

Just because you don’t live in some fancy subdivision or in a penthouse doesn’t mean that you can’t have a happy home.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to wear good clothes, I love to live in a fancy house. I just choose to value people and relationships more than stuff.

My wife tells me I don’t care much about my stuff. Maybe it’s because they’re really just… stuff.

Why do many people get so obsessed with stuff accumulation? Sydney Harris says, “The more you have to live for, the less you need to live on. Those who make acquisition their goal never have enough.”

I invest heavily on the tools that would enhance the work I do to carry out my life’s purpose. These things I invest on cease being stuff and become tools. Impressing people is no longer the motive; improving the craft is.

Lessen your clutter and stuff this Christmas. Don’t let such things occupy too much space in our house and in our hearts. Naked we came from our mother’s womb; naked will we depart.

God gives, and He has the right to take it away. So learn to hold things loosely, so that when the day The Owner comes to reclaim ownership, it won’t be so painful.

Stuff are just… stuff. Jesus died for you and me, not for the things we have. We are His possessions, and that all that matters.

(Attend “Inspiring Excellence” March 1, 2013 at the SMX Convention Center. Learn best practices and be inspired  from the industry’s best featuring Butch Jimenez, Alex Lacson, Chinkee Tan and Francis Kong. For further inquiries contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. 632-6310912.)